Today’s WTF: Obsidian Regrets New Vegas Bugs

Obsidian

Seriously, Obsidian?

I’m not trying to be a troll or anything, but this one really gave me a combination of laughs and head-scratching. You remember all of that fuss last year, back when Fallout: New Vegas had its buggy launch? Well, so does Obsidian, and they are none too pleased, thank you very much.

Here’s what Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart had to say about his company’s reputation for releasing buggy games in a recent article with Play Magazine.

I think it’s fair and unfair at the same time, because in the same conversation that I hear how buggy KOTOR and Alpha Protocol were, I also hear how great they were… Now in the case of Fallout: New Vegas, we made a gigantic game, and I’m proud with what we were able to do but I wish it wasn’t as glitchy when it came out. The criticisms people had are fair but it’s difficult to get a game the size of New Vegas bug free. But that’s an excuse and it doesn’t matter when someone’s paid $60 for a game. It’s something we need to work on.

He goes on to pump their new game Dungeon Siege III, but that was the meat of it. Maybe I’m reaching a bit here, but in my mind, if you’re the CEO, why don’t you do something to ensure that the games don’t go out the door with so many bugs? You’re in charge, last I checked. Delay the game if you have to, or work with your managers to get a better schedule for release so your developers aren’t cramming like crazy. On the flip side, it really is nice to see a CEO being open and honest about this kind of criticism, rather than just brushing it aside. So kudos for that.

What do you guys think? Fair or foul here? Go!

Source – NowGamer

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5 thoughts on “Today’s WTF: Obsidian Regrets New Vegas Bugs”

  1. I really don’t care what this guy has to say. If he really meant what he said, New Vegas wouldn’t be the trainwreck that it is. I can understand if it’s Obsidian’s first offense, but it’s not. Maybe he should go in on his own time with a rake and a couple of cans of Monster and debug it himself.

    Also, Fallout 3 is just as big if not bigger than New Vegas, and that game wasn’t plagued by bugs.

  2. It is nice to see the CEO being honest (and using the word glitchy, lol) but to be honest, I didn’t run into many problems with New Vegas. Certainly not as many as I did with Fallout 3, and I was able to fix most of them with console commands.

    I’m all for delaying a game, but I’ve also never really minded installing patches. Whatever works I guess. *crosses fingers for no more delays on Deus Ex 3*

  3. I actually think this is fair. The CEO of Obsidian has no control over the release date. Their publisher, Bethesda, does. Now obviously he should have sat down with each departments manager’s and get a tighter work schedule going on, but there’s only so much he can do once the game is in development and there is a deadline to be met. Lessons are hopefully learned and maybe for their next game they will be a bit more efficient.

  4. delay half a month for bug fixes + give pc preorders the game 1 week early with an annoying popup when you close the game asking for bugs untill you give one where it will never ask you against but have an option for it so that by release time its been overly bug tested.

  5. I say fair. This can mean a lot for that company. This could booster how they test for bugs. Sometimes its awesome to find players who crack the game and then the company can begin immediate work on fixing it. I think he is being fair about this.

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